Gravewalker
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: They hit without warning. In an instant, we lost everything. I lost everything. Betrayed by my best friend, my village decimated by foul creatures of the abyss, I lost my life. My wife. My family. Everything. I was even denied my own demise. Could you rest? I cannot. I am banished from death. Now, I am the Gravewalker. Naruto x Shadow of Mordor crossover! Pairing undecided. DARK!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I return my subjects! For any wondering, YES I have just finished playing Shadow of Mordor and its DLC soooo many times now, and I bloody loved it! However, I wasn't too pleased with a few bits here and there, don't want to give any spoilers, but if you love a good game, then have at it!**

 **And when I saw that there were no Naruto crossovers with it and all the INSANITY that takes places throughout, well, the gears in my mind got to turning.** **As another note, this IS NOT NOT NOT part of the Not Going Home series, and not to be confused with my soon-to-be-written-fic "Not Today" which chronicles the start the series as a whole. This. Is. A. Totally. Separate. Story. Of the sort I've not dared to write in a long while...**

 **I've drawn some parallels here, but it won't be entirely the same as the game, I can promise you that! XD**

 **And on another note, I'd like to say something else.**

 **So, I've been going over reviews, and an anonymous reviewer said something that really resonated with me. I love to write. But sometimes, I feel that this gift owns me, rather than I, owning it. Its like a beast inside me, this urge to create, but I can't control it very well, which results in a LOT of new stories. So as of last night, and continuing throughout the week, I'm purging stories that won't be continued, or works that no one enjoys anymore.**

 **Let me know which ones you feel should be continued, before its too late! Don't worry, many of the major ones will remain, but anything from 2008-2009 is likely going out the window with all the rest of the trash, never to be seen again. This may seem sudden I know, but I'm only purging the forgotten fics that no one cares for. Fear not, its not going to be immediate, but it WILL happen, I simply wanted to get this out as a forewarning.**

 **This will be of very few new stories I plan to release, god willing. If I have an idea, I plan to make it a damn good one before I just toss it out there, as I devote myself to my other works, soon to number into the hundreds, and potentially dozens as I whittle them down. I need to reassess why I want to write, for the joy of it, and I can't do that by letting you guys down with old, crappy stories I wrote in my early days.**

 **LET THE NEW ERA BEGIN! Now...**

 **...off we go! I proudly present...**

 **...GRAVEWALKER! WARNING! ITS DARK! DON'T LIKE IT, THEN DON'T READ! I sincerely look forward to hearing what ya'll think of this!**

 _""Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul."_

 _(One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them."_

 _~?_

 **Banished From Death**

 _Cold._

 _Is this what death feels like, I wonder?_

 _That eerie, numbing chill creeping up your bones like frostbite. Despair. All my strength, all my power, all of it for naught. I thought I could protect them. My friends. My family. My allies. My VILLAGE. In the end, I failed them all. Do some yet live? I know not? I lay here, in this wet ditch-this pit filled with bodies-my throat cut, and I feel myself slipping away with each passing moment. I don't understand. How did this happen? Why? An evil, vile, wicked betrayal, an alliance with foul beasts from the North...this, I understand._

 _But I do not know why._

 _Why would HE do this after all these years? We were friends. Our children competed against one another. He'd turned away from darkness and stepped into the light._

 _So why...why am I dead at his hand?_

 _"Coupla extra bodies for the pit!"  
_

 _"Toss 'em in!"_

 _I hear the laughter of men and monsters now, savage and cruel as they cast more into the pit, further burying me in a coffin of death and flesh. I no longer possess the strength to look away. Even the rage isn't enough to sustain me, anymore. Rage is a hell of an anesthetic, but even it can't bring a man back from the grave. But it CAN give you a few extra, precious seconds in this world._

 _And then I see their bodies._

 _Three of them._

 _My wife._

 _My children._

 _Gone._

 _Cut down before my very eyes, like pigs to the slaughter._

 _My partner, taken, ruined, in such a manner as well._

 _Ripped away, out of me, from me, by him._

 _Memories emerge, wilting._

 _And thus I die._

* * *

 **"NO."**

A voice like rolling boulders scraping together snarled in his ear and, mercifully, the world finally went black around him. But only for a moment. Then, something gripped him, an invisible hand hoisting him up out of the sea of bodies even as his concsiousness continued to sink in deeper shadow and flame...

Darkness...

...fading...

 _...falling..._

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto, the last Hokage, woke to blackness.

That was his first surprise.

He lay on a cold, marble floor, feeling as if someone had picked him up and slammed him against the wall a few times. Like he'd been shoved through a wall of blades and been stitched back together. He groaned, sitting up in the darkness. In the dim light his hands seemed almost unnaturally bright and he ached, he ached, _oh how he ached,_ his head pounding. He sat up further but that proved to be most unwise; it made his body feel even worse. Confusion dulled the pain to a slight edge as he sat there, blinking.

He held his arm up in front of him. It still shook slightly, and he couldn't make it stop.

 _Wait._

Why was he here? The last thing he remembered was falling...

Memories came rushing back in a blinding, white wave of agony.

Pain.

Agony.

Blistering.

 _"DADDY!"_

Clamoring upright, he jolted up off the floor.

That, soon proved to be a mistake. His bare feet wailed in protest, _screaming_ the moment he put weight on them, invisible pins and needles stabbing at them. Every footstep, agony. His knees cried out, buckling, unable to support his weight. Groaning he half stumbled, half crawled against the wall, bodily hauling himself into a sitting position. A broken kunai stared down at him and fumbling, he snatched at it. In his daze he didn't see the blood until it was too late.

What he saw next to it nearly overwhelmed him.

"No."

Naruto jolted upright with a hiss, seeing the body. Recognizing it, in this eerie world of white-washed blue and white. The panic almost consumed his mind, the claws of a great beast ripping at his pscyhe. Without so much as a second thought he dropped to a knee, reaching for the small, tiny body at his feet, cradling her head in his lap. He shook her lightly, but her head only lolled aside on a broken neck.

"No...

Himawari's blank eyes stared back at him from where she lay on the ground, dead and lifeless. The memory came back, and this time, he was helpless to stop it.

 _"You're going to have to hit harder than that if you want to beat your old man!"_

 _"Hold still!"_

 _"DADDY! HELP!"_

His head snapped up, jerking free from the thought as he realized there was a second shape next to Himawari.

"Oh, no. No no no no, God, please...no...

Bolt lay only yards away from his little sister, his fingers gripped tightly around something, knuckles white around a blade. His face frozen in a determined rictus. He'd gone down fighting. Naruto felt the tears come as he held his eldest child, grief replaced by a bitter pang of loss and mourning. Only hours -to him- before, that face had been grinning madly, cackling as he chased him down for painting the Stone Faces. There was no light in those eyes now.

His son's terror washed over Naruto in a sickly afterglow, his last moments laid bare before him.

 _"Stop, stop! Dad! DAD! Do something!"_

Raising his head he felt a shout build up his throat, but all that emerged was an agonizing sob. Was this the afterlife? Purgatory? Hell? Was he doomed to look upon the faces of those he had lost for all eternity, until he finally went mad from grief?

"Am I dead?" he moaned softly, not expecting an answer from the shadows.

A whisper of breath snaked across his ear, eliciting a shudder.

 **"You are banished from death."**

It passed over him before he could glimpse the strange entity, leaving him alone once more.

A flicker of red caught his eye, just a dash of red fur against white, but he saw.

He remembered once more.

 _His friend, thrusting a hand into him, ripping it free...leaving him to die as he chanted those infernal words..._

He found Hinata, next.

She lay sprawled away, far from their children, clutching her stomach, almost cradling the slight bulge, and the child there. Someone had deliberately gored her there, and the sight nearly made him wretch. Still, Naruto couldn't bring himself not to touch her cheek, fingertip caressing that soft face ever so gently. The memory hit him, and this time, he didn't resist. He followed it, chased it down the corridors of his mind, and saw it play out before his eyes, savoring their last moments.

 _A memory of bringing her flowers, of laughter, kissing her softly, touching her pregnant belly..._

 _...watching that madman thrust the blade into her stomach as others held him, helpless..._

 _Red eyes, filled with tomoe, staring into the heavens as her life bled away._

 _The Uchiha's voice in his ear._

 _"I sacrifice this woman in the name of..._

With a howl, the blond wrenched himself free, and stood. When next he looked however, Hinata's body was gone. So too, were those of his children. In the end he was left standing, alone, clutching a broken dagger in his hand, gazing at the faded, glowing walls of his prison. Or was it a prison at all? There were no bars, no shackles, he was free to move as he pleased. Despair took him, as he realized he was still alive, that somehow he had escaped death.

"What is this place?!"

 **"See for yourself."**

Naruto whipped around at the stark comment behind him, and his legs nearly gave out.

He was looking at a woman, he realized.

A ghost, no more than that.

 _Wraith._

The word thrust itself into his mind as he looked at this eerie creature.

Her long, flowing hair almost reminded him of his mothers, but it had been cut boyishly short on the left. No, perhaps that wasn't quite right. It was _burned_ , as though someone had taken a hot poker to that side of her face. The eyes were different. So was the build. She was dressed as though for battle in another time, another distant age. Wearing the light, plated armor seemingly favored by those of the First Shinobi War, she stood before, silent and unmoving. Her cold, empty eyes met his, and she stepped aside, making away for him in the ruins.

Stepping out, he did see.

And what he saw nearly made him weep.

Konoha lay in smoldering ruins leagues below, dark stacks of smoke trailing outward for miles in every direction. Like smog, the thick haze darkened the sky around the village. In the distance, he thought he detected the distant sound of hammers pounding steel. The gate lay in ruins, as though smashed apart by a giant hand, and a seemingly endless flow of those...those _things_ seemed to pour into the place he had once dared to call home.

Those things, with foreign shinobi at their side, marched into his home, defiling it. Anger froze inside him, turning into a nuclear wasteland of rage.

"The village...how long have I been...

 **"Now do you believe me, ninja?"** she rasped **.**

"What is this?"

 **"I say again, you are banished from death."** the specter reiterated grimly, a glimmer of irritation flitting across her face. **"Cast adrift between the realms of light and dark. A curse binds us together within the walls of your very soul."** A glinting, ethereal hand waved, tongues of white flame like tiny little moths, trailing away from her fingertips. As he looked on, those wisps turned to shadows. **"Darkness has awoken from its slumber within this land and found its way across the shore. You believe this to be the first victim? Your village?"** she scoffed. **"It is merely the most recent."**

It made a twisted sort of sense, really.

Village after village had gone dark, leaving many to wonder at their fate, but it had never been a pressing concern until recently. Any messengers or scouts sent out never returned. Suna had vanished only days before, and now, it seemed Konoha had fallen to the same fate of the sand. Now, Naruto found himself wishing he'd been more thorough. If they'd just been prepared...!

"You speak of darkness as if you know it, creature." he protested. "That's impossible. I know. We defeated her. Kaguya. She can't be responsible for this."

The wraith blinked.

 **"I know not of whom you speak, but this is evil is older than the world itself. It has already taken much of your strength from you. You would be dead, if not for me."** Naruto longed to lash out at this stern, stoic woman, but he knew doing so wouldn't bring his family back. Only one thing would, and that eye was presently resting in a certain man's skull. _Rinnegan._ He'd pluck that eye right out of that bastard's head and use it to bring his family back!

"If what you say is true, then how do we break this curse?"

 **"We find the one who cast it on us."** the woman snarled. **"Your friend, now corrupted by darkness most foul. The Last Uchiha."**

"And how are we going to do that. Powerless, remember?"

For a moment, just a moment, he thought he saw that grim rictus of a face curl into a smile.

 **"You are not without skill...or gifts."**

He followed her gaze, glancing at the mark on his hand. The cut, where, during their battle, he'd caught the avenger's blade and snapped it in half. It was still with him, somehow, thrust into the sash of his belt in spite or perhaps as a final parting gift from a friend-turned-enemy. He didn't know. All that mattered was the weapon. A tool. A means to strike back at those who had done this to his village.

Like the mark and dagger, it glowed an eerie iridescent blue, pulsating in its whiteness.

 _Power._

He could feel it within this mark, thrumming through his body like a fierce, wild thing. It didn't matter if his chakra coils were torn to pieces, this seemed to have replaced it, revitalized him. Somehow, he was still alive, still able to fight. And while he yet lived, he would have vengeance and recompense for what had been dome to him! All because of this strange, ghostly woman he didn't know...

"What are you?"

The wraith seemed to consider that for a long, painful moment before answering him.

 **"I am a whisper. I am a shadow. A ghost. What all living things fear the most."** came the hoarse reply, sounding slightly lost as she finished. **"I do not know how to explain. When you died, I was drawn to you. Beyond that, I know nothing. Not even my own name."**

Doubt creased his face.

"And what purpose do you have in aiding me?"

 **"Someone called to me, and I answered. When I woke I was called to you. Your fate is as much yours as my own."**

Together, they turned their gaze on the ruins of what had once been the Leaf.

Naruto growled, drawing his broken blade.

 _"Then let us begin."_

A single step carried them off the ledge and sent both man and wraith plummeting into the Shadows of Konoha...

 **A/N: WHAT A LOVELY DAY INDEED! Ah, sorry. Just couldn't help myself. What kind of chaos and bloodshed can Naruto get up to here? Ohhhh, quite a bit. Don't believe me? BEHOLD THE PREVIEW. THAR BE TWO THIS TIME!**

 _ **(Preview(S))**_

 _The Wraith's head jerked in the direction of their fallen foe, wrenching them away from the huddled form of the woman they'd just delivered from harm._

 _ **"Go to him."** she instructed firmly.  
_

 _Naruto did._

 _And as he did, he felt the power roar up the length of his arm, consuming his entire body. By the time he'd reached their unfortunate victim the Wraith was fully in control of his-their?- body, hands twitching away from the bow at her back._ _Howling, she seized the enemy's skull, forcing them to a knee._

 ** _"SUFFER ME NOW!"_**

 _Their prey writhed wildly in their grasp, but the Wraith's grip was absolute. Undeniable. Green eyes like jade coals bored into their unwilling victim._

 _ **"What do you know of the Uchiha?!"** when no response was immediately forthcoming, she snarled, **"What do you know of Sauron's Right Hand?!"**_

 _The creature gurgled wetly as a blazing brand scorched its skull._

 _"I..._

 ** _"SPEAK, WORM!"_**

* * *

 _"Just be sure you're there to take his place."_

 _Konohamaru glanced at the corpse the Gravewalker had just butchered, then back to the fading form of his friend stomping into the mists. In hindsight he really shouldn't have opened his mouth, but curiosity compelled him to do so, regardless of the fact. Naruto...this Naruto was frightening. As if he were a completely different person...was he losing his mind, somehow?_

 _"Uh, but he's not dead, yet."_

 _Naruto didn't stop walking, but his snarl echoed after him._

 ** _"I'm going to kill him!"_**

 _"R-Right...good luck with that, boss!"_

 **AND THE INSANITY CONTINUES! So, in the Immortal Words of Atlas, Review, Would You Kindly?**

 **R &R~! =D**


	2. Suffer Me Now!

**A/N: I return my subjects! For any wondering, YES I have just finished playing Shadow of Mordor and its DLC soooo many times now, and I bloody loved it! However, I wasn't too pleased with a few bits here and there, don't want to give any spoilers, but if you love a good game, then have at it!**

 **And when I saw that there were no Naruto crossovers with it and all the INSANITY that takes places throughout, well, the gears in my mind got to turning.** **As another note, this IS NOT NOT NOT part of the Not Going Home series, and not to be confused with my soon-to-be-written-fic "Not Today" which chronicles the start the series as a whole. This. Is. A. Totally. Separate. Story. Of the sort I've not dared to write in a long while...**

 **I've drawn some parallels here, but it won't be entirely the same as the game, I can promise you that! XD**

 **And on another note, I'd like to say something else.**

 **So, I've been going over reviews, and an anonymous reviewer said something that really resonated with me. I love to write. But sometimes, I feel that this gift owns me, rather than I, owning it. Its like a beast inside me, this urge to create, but I can't control it very well, which results in a LOT of new stories. So as of last night, and continuing throughout the week, I'm purging stories that won't be continued, or works that no one enjoys anymore.**

 **Let me know which ones you feel should be continued, before its too late! Don't worry, many of the major ones will remain, but anything from 2008-2009 is likely going out the window with all the rest of the trash, never to be seen again. This may seem sudden I know, but I'm only purging the forgotten fics that no one cares for. Fear not, its not going to be immediate, but it WILL happen, I simply wanted to get this out as a forewarning.**

 **This will be of very few new stories I plan to release, god willing. If I have an idea, I plan to make it a damn good one before I just toss it out there, as I devote myself to my other works, soon to number into the hundreds, and potentially dozens as I whittle them down. I need to reassess why I want to write, for the joy of it, and I can't do that by letting you guys down with old, crappy stories I wrote in my early days.**

 **LET THE NEW ERA BEGIN! Now...**

 **...off we go! I proudly present...**

 **...GRAVEWALKER! WARNING! ITS DARK! DON'T LIKE IT, THEN DON'T READ! I sincerely look forward to hearing what ya'll think of this! And YUP I enjoyed writing the execution combo's here very, VERY much...my precious. Gah! Away with you, Gollum! Also, we strike a divergence, here! A BIG ONE! Also! I need new orc names and titles here, folks! Please feel free to suggest some!**

 _"Such a tiny thing. To think it could instill such doubt. Such fear..."_

 _~?_

 **Suffer Me Now!**

 _I no longer have need of this journal I tell myself, yet still I cling to it._

 _Why?_

 _My family is ashes, my village ruins._

 _I am banished from death, or so the Wraith tells me._

 _My soft heart has hardened, becoming jagged and sharp. Like a rough diamond. Just thinking about my losses cut deep. I want it to stop. More than anything, ANYTHING, I want to join my loved ones in death. I want to rest. I want to sleep. I want to hear my children's laughter and fall asleep with my wife's head resting on my shoulder. Instead I am bereft. A walking corpse pretending at some semblance of life. I know not the pains of hunger, the desire of warmth at night; only the need for vengeance._

 _It isdecided, then._

 _I will become like a plague unto their houses. All who stand with the traitor, with Sasuke, who endorse this madness, will fall. I will PLUCK that eye from his skull, and I will make things right again. I will find the source of this corruption, and I shall drive it out of this land with cleansing fire, and Konoha will be reborn from the flames, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I will not stop. I will not rest. I will use every tool at my disposal, no matter how vicious, how vile, to succeed._

 _In my last days as kage, a wise man once told me thus_ _:_

 _It is always darkest just before the dawn..._

 _...but the dawn is coming._

 _And I say now this, to my enemies!_

 _SO._

 _AM._

 ** _I!_**

* * *

Falling feels like flying, just in reverse.

Uzumaki Naruto experienced this odd thought as he fell to the earth. Plummeted, really, more like a sinking stone than the fluttering feather he'd once been before death. Beside him he caught sight of the Wraith, falling with him, her arms outstretched as she plunged feet first toward the ground. A wild light danced in her eyes, her expression almost blissful compared to the stern scowl he'd become accustomed to. It was a strange expression, one he hadn't thought to see on her face.

 **"I always missed this,"** she murmured.

"What," he called back, "Falling?"

 **"No, flying!"**

He was just about to answer that, when-

 _Ground._

"MAGGOT!"

Naruto heard the word just as he landed in a pointed crouch at the foot of the mount, shock reverberating up the soles of his feet and into his ankles. In the same instant a snarl reverberated in his ears like pitched swill angry and fierce. For a solid second he wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at exactly-if it was even real!-or if his dead mind was merely playing some new manner of trickery upon him. He had seen these creatures before in his dying moments but now...now...

...it was like looking at something fresh out of a nightmare.

Rising, he found himself staring at a group of creatures that were neither man nor beast, but some strange amalgamation in between. Creatures with dark skin, some a ruddy yellow, others green, clad it mottled leather of varying design. Their weapons were still fresh with the blood of the innocent.

The lead man/beast leered at him with sickly glower, exposing pale fangs and bright, piggish eyes, the sort that belonged on a swine.

"Looks like we missed one of you Rangers back at the border!" it snarled, brandishing an iron cleaver. We'll have to fix that!"

"Ranger?"

He could imagine he looked quite a sight in his tattered kage robes and hat, but a ranger?

The devil was that?

 _ **"Orcs."**_ the wraith spat the word in his ear, circling him with a snarl, her words finding him in the time it took a mortal man to blink, _**"You will find your village infested with them, those they have broken. They do not understand the concept of ninja; they yet confuse you with those they have seen across the eternal shore. Feared warriors, capable of striking from the shadows with speed and skill. Let us not disappoint them."**_ her hand waved a-once, and a new weapon landed in his hand, clad in ghastly blue relief.

Slender, curved and intricately designed, it fit into his hand with a cool hum of sound.

 **"Take my bow."** she instructed. **"Let it smite our enemies."**

He did.

Despite never having wielded one in all his days, Naruto watched mystified, dumbfounded even as his arm expertly selected an arrow from the ghostly quiver at his back, laid into the string and drew upon slack. Sighted down against his prey...

 _Twang!_

...and fired.

Three shots flew from that azure bow, greeting the skulls of three dead orcs in the time it would have taken them to step forth and swing their blades. The lead creature squawked in surprise, but by then, the ninja was already upon him, slamming him down, jabbing him in the throat before he could call out an alarm. Gurgling, the Orc went down, clutching at his throat. It wasn't long before the cool steel of a broken blade found it not a moment later.

"Will this bring your family back?" the creature hissed, leering up at him. "Your poor pretty wife an-

 _ **"SILENCE! YOU MISERABLE PIECE OF HORSE DUNG!"**_

All the anger came spilling out in an instant.

Howling, he flung himself forward!

He spun, whipping his tattered white and red cloak up into the creature's face. Blinding him. Stunning. In that split second it took the orc to swat at the battered garment, Naruto pounced. His son's broken blade flashed like fire in one hand, Sasuke's, the other. In a single, savage movement, the latter found the Uruk's throat and the former his skull, emerging in a gristly black spatter. An arm wrapped around the ruined remnants of his head and pulled, ripping his head free in a grisly spatter.

"There he is!"

"AND THERE YOU GO!"

The broken kunai descended mercilessly, shanking another victim when it tried to pounce on him from above. His hand snapped up and the beast yelped, jerking away, clutching at its singed face. The sight momentarily gave Naruto pause, his eyes snapping to the burning mark upon his hand.

"Well," he hummed, gazing at the blazing flames. "That's new."

The Wraith's head jerked in the direction of their fallen foe, wrenching them away from the huddled form of the woman they'd just delivered from harm.

 **"Go to him."** she instructed firmly.

Naruto did.

And as he did, he felt the power roar up the length of his arm, consuming his entire body. By the time he'd reached their unfortunate victim the Wraith was fully in control of his-their?- body, hands twitching away from the bow at her back. Howling, she seized the enemy's skull, forcing them to a knee.

 **"SUFFER ME NOW!"**

Their prey writhed wildly in their grasp, but the Wraith's grip was absolute. Undeniable. Green eyes like jade coals bored into their unwilling victim.

 **"What do you know of the Uchiha?!"** when no response was immediately forthcoming, she snarled, **"What do you know of Sauron's Right Hand?!"**

The creature gurgled wetly as a blazing brand scorched its skull.

"I...

 **"SPEAK, WORM!"**

"I had a slave...who swore he fought him...

 **"AND?!"**

...said e' was looking for...a...ring!"

Naruto stiffened, releasing their captive.

"Ring?"

* * *

The Hokage's Tower had seen better days.

Looted and ransacked like much of the village, it lay open like some gutted carcass, all valuable stripped away. Orc filth lay everywhere the eye could see, desecrating this once sacred, venerated place of Konoha and its founders. Of guards there were none, the creatures seemed to have lost interest in the spire once they'd picked away all items of value.

For that at least, Naruto was thankful.

An arduous climb carried him to the top, taking him to center of what had once been his office.

 **"Why are we here?"** the Wraith demanded, following in his footsteps. **"There is nothing for us in this place but ash and bone."**

"I have a hunch."

She snorted, but did not question him further.

"Lets see...it should be about...here!"

Bending to a knee, he placed a hand upon the floorboards. Chakra he might now lack, but his mind still remembered where had secreted this stash away. Whatever dread power coursed through him must have held at least some resemblance to his chakra, because the secret panel opened almost immediately, revealing his precious cache of supplies. Emergency weapons, armor, and rations, in case of such an event. It was here the kage had stored all of his most valued belongings, and it was here that he found what he sought.

Slipping into a flak jacket and withdrawing a brace of daggers, followed by a bandolier of shuriken, the Gravewalker dressed himself for war. Last but not least, he withdrew a small box, the sort one might keep a bit of jewelry in. After a moment of consideration, he opened it.

Contained within was a Ring.

 **"What is that?"**

"That orc mentioned Sasuke and a ring." he rattled the box for emphasis. "This is the only one he knew about-obsessed over really-before everything went south." Before she could further protest, he reached down and plucked the tiny thin from the red velvet of the box. The Wraith leaned in, appraising it.

 **"I do not see the point in-GAH!"**

Her startled yelp jolted Naruto like a living wire, and then he realized; he was screaming too. Their voices melded into one and the world fell away, memories coursing into them. Flashes of sight and sound, too loud to discern. The fires of war, screams of pain and death, and there, amongst it all:

 _"You fool! Cast it aside!"_

 _"I dare not."_

 _"DESTROY IT!"_

 _"No."_

 _"THEN I DO SO MYSELF!"_

 _"What are you doing?! Stop!"_

Gasping, the blond came back to himself.

"What the hell was that?!"

The Wraith was silent for a very long time, her green eyes boring into him.

 **"Where,"** when she finally spoke, it was a small, dismayed whisper, **"Did you find that?"**

Naruto frowned.

"One of my scouts discovered it a few months ago in a cave, next to the body of a strange creature. It was around the time that the villages started going dark." He held up the golden ring, frowning as he turned it end over end." the beginnings of a frown plucked at his lips, was it just him, or did the damnded thing seem to whisper the longer he held it? "This...this ring gave me an ill feeling after Sasuke started muttering about it, so I hid it away from him and the rest of the village. I'd always meant for Ibiki or Anko to take a better look at it, but in the end, I just didn't have time...

 **"That,"** her voice was thick, **"Is the One Ring. I remember it. It is the reason the enemy has come."** for once, she looked genuinely shaken, the fire in her green eyes nearly subdued. **"It is a foul, treacherous thing, not to be taken lightly and now, I recall its nefarious purpose."**

"You do?"

 _ **"I remember throwing that foul abomination in a pit!"**_ she exclaimed venomously, spinning away from him in a swirl of skirts and armor. _**"I remember ripping it from my brother's hand and casting it aside when he lacked the strength to do so himself! It nearly destroyed my people!"**_

Naruto's eye snapped back to the small, golden thing in is hand. Destroy? This? Something so small? How?

"What is it?"

 **"It is nothing good."** the wraith insisted, looking like she meant to pluck the very thing from his hand, **"You must be rid of it before it ruins you as well. Now! Quickly!"**

"If the enemy wants it, I aim to use it against them." Naruto mused aloud, pondering. "Sauron cannot use what he does not possess."

 **"This is no mindless rabble of orc we face! These are Uruk-Hai."** she protested, raising her voice. **"Their armor is thick, their shields broad. Once they realize you hold the Ring they will not stop! They will use whatever means necessary to get to you, draw you out into the open! Survivors? Taken. Any of your loved ones, who still remain? BUTCHERED!"** Her voice leapt three octaves into a despairing wail. "Do you not understand this? See sense!"

"Then we will need every advantage."

 **"The Ring will not avail you! It answers only to the dark lord himself!"**

"Then I shall break it and make it answer to me!"

 **"YOU CANNOT!"**

"This is not up for discussion!" Realizing his tone, he shrank back, charigned. "I mean not to challenge you. But I'm taking this ring. We need every advantage we can get."

She averted her gaze.

Gritting his teeth, he took the ring.

And there it was.

He felt something brush against his mind then, a dark, foul tendril of presence that made him shudder.

 _'Naruto..._

Snarling the blond swatted it away, this eerie tether of ill will, walling up his mind with every trick, every mental barrier he possessed. He would not be dominated. He refused to be controlled by something so small as a mere bauble! He would take this ring and he would use it for the good of his people. And if tried to make him do otherwise, he swore to cut off his own hand.

"If I fail, if this should corrupt me as you claim...

...kill me."

 **"I pray you are right."**

 _"Such a tiny thing. To think it could instill such doubt. Such fear..."_

Determined, he slid the Ring onto his finger.

And with nary a whisper, he vanished from the world.

* * *

 _(Hours later...)_

* * *

"HYAH!"

With a furious roar he finished the arc, cleaving through another limey bastard's skull.

When his head rolled free of its body across the ground, he felt a surge of triumph, then bitter, crushing emptiness. How long could he keep doing this? Fighting, hacking, slashing, killing. The Ring was useful in keeping him hidden from the enemy when the need arose, and it empowered him, filling him with life, strength and vitality, but even then, there was only so much he could do...

Until...

"Boss! BOSS! Over here!"

The shout actually startled him somewhat.

Strapped to the nearest wall, he found a familiar face, bound and tied.

...Konohamaru? What're you doing here?"

"Crazy bastards are actually putting some of our guys in charge." his protege muttered, rubbing a raw arm. "Those who surrendered got sent over to Sasuke. They came out looking...strange. Empty inside. Whatever he did to 'em its...its permanent."

"Sarada and Sakura?"

"Haven't seen 'em. he groaned. "Look, the guy in charge of this camp is a nobody. Some Orc named Goroth."

"Just be sure you're there to take his place."

Konohamaru glanced at the corpse the Gravewalker had just butchered, then back to the fading form of his friend stomping into the mists. In hindsight he really shouldn't have opened his mouth, but curiosity compelled him to do so, regardless of the fact. Naruto...this Naruto was frightening. As if he were a completely different person...was he losing his mind, somehow?

"Uh, but he's not dead, yet."

Naruto didn't stop walking, but his snarl echoed after him.

 **"I'm going to kill him!"**

"R-Right...good luck with that, boss!"

 **A/N: WHAT A LOVELY DAY INDEED! Ah, sorry. Just couldn't help myself. What kind of chaos and bloodshed can Naruto get up to here? Ohhhh, quite a bit. Don't believe me? BEHOLD THE PREVIEW. THAR BE ONE THIS TIME!**

 _ **(Preview)**_

 ** _"YOU! WILL! OBEY!"_**

 _The Uruk crashed to its knees with a howl, shrieking as the brand burned into its face. The token resistance offered up by its mind was almost immediately crushed, ground down so deep that it never had a chance of breaking free. By the the time the thought had even occurred it was already too late. Far too late. Naruto and wraith took hold of its mind utterly, dominating it, mind, body, and soul. They dug their claws in deep an' took hold of his mind, and then the pain ended._

 _Its eyes turned blue and it stood, bowing._

 _"Who do you serve?" Naruto snapped._

 _"I serve the Bright Master."_

 _"Good. Now, I have task for you. Kill your captain."_

 _"Yes...master..._

 _"Ohhhhh...now we're getting somewhere."_

 _Naruto's grin was decidedly savage as he watched his new slave walk away, Sakura thought. Too savage. It was the look of a beast, twisted and cruel. It wasn't the face of her friend, or teammate or even-now leader. It was cold. There was something hard and dark in those glittering blue eyes, as though all kindness had been stripped from him, leaving only...something else._

 _"Naruto...I think you should remove that ring."_

 _He looked at her as though she'd grown an extra head and asked him for a dance._

 _"I am using this Ring to protect my people!"_

 _Her silence spoke volumes._

 _"We're going to make things better." he insisted, taking hold of her shoulders, pulling her close. "We'll drive these invaders out of our village, our lands and then all others! The Ring's helping me, but I need you to be with me on this too, Sakura. I can't do it alone."_

 _...I'm with you."_

 _Sakura couldn't bear to say the words to his face, so she nodded, waited until he'd walked away. Only then did she speak._

 _"But the Ring, its changing you..."_

 **AND THE INSANITY CONTINUES! So, in the Immortal Words of Atlas, Review, Would You Kindly?**

 **R &R~! =D**


	3. Shadow of War

**A/N: I FINALLY recovered the missing chapters for this fic!**

 **Well...sorta.**

 **Long-story short, I had SIX, count 'em, SIX chapters ready for this bad boy, then my computer crashed. As in melted. To slag. FIFTY THOUSAND words, all gone. Poof! Up in smoke! Somehow, I managed to recover enough to work with, so I've spent the last week reconstructing things as best I can. 'Tis not easy rewriting so much in so little time, so instead of waiting forever to get it all out there again, I decided to release it as it comes.**

 **Surprise! Back on the updating wagon again, as it were.**

 **For those who wonder, I recently acquired a copy of Shadow of War and while I can't speak to the matter of microtransactions-considering I don't use them-the game itself is a bloody marvel, even better than the first. I'm midway through act II and well...I kinda feel bad for Shelob all things considered. Yes the lore's gotten horribly confusing, but watching the accumulated memories was enough to make even me flinch and that's not done easily.**

 **ALSO!**

 **I have a fucking nemesis who, I swear to got, resembles bloody BANE from Batman! His name is LITERALLY, Krimp Jaws and he is STALKING me! Motherfucker doesn't speak a word, he just grunts, growls, screams, and CACKLES like a motherucker, all the while merrily chopping me down to size! He doesn't even kill me! He just walks the fuck off every time I run out of health!**

 **Freaking Humiliation...**

 **On a less ranty note, I may also try a more nonsensical approach to things in the form of something in the "Not Going Home" series.**

 **I mean, Shadow of Mordor was nice and all, but Shadow of WAR really caught my attention with the Fortress aspect, as well as the idea of "branded" captains and Warchiefs still holding true to their core personalities. To that end, I've received many requests to do something along those lines.** **It amuses me to no end to think of Naruto forming his own little army, not through domination like Talion, but sheer overwhelming charisma. Not for the purpose of war, mind you...but other things.**

 **Because if there's one things Orcs respect, its strength. Now, who has that in spades?**

 **Just think of the chaos he could cause!**

 **That aside, this upcoming story will be of very few new stories I plan to release anytime soon, my health willing. If I have an idea, I plan to make it a damn good one before I just toss it out there, as I devote myself to my other works, soon to number into the hundreds, and potentially dozens as I whittle them down. I need to reassess why I want to write, for the joy of it, and I can't do that by letting you guys down with old, crappy stories I wrote in my early days.**

 **Be on the look out for it!**

 **Furthermore, for those wondering about the wraith, she may be who you think she is. She may now We shall see. The fact of the matter is Naruto's fighting a war on two fronts here; both against the enemy, and the Ring he now wears. It remains to be see what will triumph in the end. To quote a certain madman, if you think this story has a happy ending...**

 **...you haven't been paying attention.**

 **People will die in this story. Others may well be corrupted. Some may suffer a fate even worse than death. Don't expect it to be all sunshine and rainbows with the good guys triumphing without losing a single life. We're already weeeeeeell past that point.**

 **If any of you aren't comfortable with that, this is your chance to leave!**

 **Anywho, here we are!**

 **LET THE NEW ERA BEGIN! Now...**

 **...off we go! I proudly present.**

 **...the awaited return of...**

 **...GRAVEWALKER!**

 **'Tis but a taste of things to come!**

 **Furthermore, comparisons of a certain Orc to Bruz are intentional.**

 **You'll soon see why as I have big plans for this particular individual indeed!**

 **Hope you enjoy the commemorative title! I figured a bit of tongue in cheek would be fitting...**

 _"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them."_

 _~?_

 **Shadow of War**

Night came to Konoha, and death with it.

Sakura didn't much care for either.

She was far too focused on trying to find a way to survive the next five minutes; let alone the next hour without losing her head. Her mind clamored for a solution like a caged beast, seeking a way out and finding none. It found only chains. In particular, the shackles binding her arms and legs to the floor. Blasted things! Were it not for these accursed chains, were it not for the mark on her _shoulder_ that stole her strength, she would've put this behind her long ago. She needed to escape. Not just for herself, but for her daughter. Sarada wasn't long for this world-not with that head wound. If she didn't receive some much-needed medical attention soon, she wouldn't even be alive by the time the executioner reached her place in the line. Their sole saving grace stood in the fact that the creature seemed to be taking its _time_ with each of its victims.

Even now, she could hear the screams coming from that tent.

It wouldn't be long now.

Emerald eyes flicked across the empty street, searching for some sign, for something, anything that might aid in their escape.

She found nothing.

What was once been a thriving populations center had been rendered nearly unrecognizable by the invading army. Beautiful, once. Now? Black with shed blood and burning buildings, thick smoke choking the night. Little more than a feasting or killing ground for those Uruks and their ilk. Judging by the rank stench permeating the air, they might've done more than that. It wasn't fair, a small voice in her head raged impotently. Even with their numbers, they might well have beat back the horde if hadn't been for Sasuke's betrayal-no. She refused to think about him. How he'd abandoned them. Left them to die. How he'd slapped that seal on her ,when he turned. The way he looked at her as if she didn't even ex- _Stop! Thinking! About it!_ she hissed at herself. To dwell upon her husband's ruthless betrayal would only drive her further into the dark when her daughter needed her the most. That way lay madness. That way was-

 _"Hello there, my lovelies!"_

Speaking of madness, here came the madman himself.

The "madman" in question was an appallingly green-colored Uruk known as Goroth, clad in spindly armor and bearing a rusty blade. The one in "charge" of overseeing the prisoners and their executions. Sakura used the word loosely. He was little more than disgusting filth in her eyes; filth who'd likely overwhelmed a shinobi through sheer luck or numbers, then claimed their jacket for himself as the spoils. He thought it made him look handsome. Fancied himself dashing, even. Damn him. Damn him to the darkest pit. If her hands weren't bound and her strength sealed, she would've crushed his head for the insult. Him and his band of toadies.

As it were, those beady eyes were roving somewhere they shouldn't.

"Right, then." he began cheerily, leering at her daughter. "Who should I start with, sweetness? Maybe you? You don't look like you're long for this world anyway." When the nearly insensate Sarada didn't reply, the Uruk scowled and struck her across the face with the back of his hand. "What's that?! Can't hear you! Perhaps you'd like my boys to have a word with your mother, hmm?!"

To her surprise, Sarada reared back and spat in his face.

It was the worst possible thing she could have done.

"Oh, you'll regret that, you will. I'll make you sc-

His threats did not avail him.

A blur of tattered cloth leaped from a nearby rooftop and fell upon the Goroth like lightning, slamming a broken blade into his lower torso. The wounded Uruk uttered an ear-piercing shrieked as he reeled back to clutch at this admittedly minor wound, causing his hooded attacker to liberally clobber him with the hilt of his weapon until he fell to the ground insensate. Sparing no more than a backward glance for Sakura or her daughter, their savior lunged upright, summoning a bow to hand, an immaterial quiver of arrows already manifesting upon his back.

His foresight soon became apparent as Sakura realized he'd inadvertently brought an entire squad down on their heads.

No sooner had Goroth fell than every Uruk in the camp came alive at once; some drew weapons, others reached for axes, the rest went for their crossbows.

"It's the bloody tark!"

"He got Goroth!"

"Gut 'im!"

The hooded man's sole concession to the danger came in the form of an annoyed grunt.

 _Then the bow blurred._

There could be no other word for it.

Sakura saw no movement; only the air around the weapon shift just so. A heartbeat later twelve dead Uruks lay at their feet, feathered with so many arrows they resembled living pincushions. One dared twitch and their savior filled its maw with still more ethereal arrows. They were the lucky ones. The handful of Uruk-hai unfortunate enough to _survive_ the storm were left agape in awkward confusion as the hooded man dispelled his bow and raised a hand toward the heavens, unable to comprehend the meaning behind the strange gesture. They never saw their own kin fall upon them; blue-eyed Uruks dropping down from the rooftops and emerging from alleyways slaughtered those who remained with cruel efficiency. They'd scarcely processed the abrupt deaths of their kith and kin before they met their own.

With another eerie gesture, the hooded bade his small blue-eyed army to be still.

Then he turned his wrath elsewhere.

Rounding on the still-stunned Goroth, their rescuer brandished a blazing hand and descended upon the Uruk with a snarl that seemed more beast than man. The sight seared itself into Sakura's eyes like a second sun, momentarily forcing the pinkette to avert her eyes even as its owner clamped it around the beast's mouth to stifle his startled screams. A heartbeat later the glow abated, dimming enough to reveal the owner of said hand, his hood torn back by the brief bout of violence. Sakura froze. The sight of her old friend-for this was most certainly a familiar face-made her blood run cold, all thoughts of escape forgotten in an instant.

 _'Naruto?!'_

He didn't seem to hear her.

"Where did you get that jacket?" he demanded, the words a hiss. "Speak!"

A low groan answered as Uruk struggled in his grasp.

"Got if off some tark...with a ponytail."

 _"Describe him!"_

"He...had a scar on his face! 'Cross his nose!"

Naruto went terribly still.

 _Iruka._

"I...see."

Sakura flinched.

Naruto...slightly more so.

Even then his reaction startled her.

 **"ABANDON THE DARK LORD AND SERVE ME!"**

Goroth crashed to his knees with a muffled howl, shrieking as the brand burned into his face, a ring burning horribly bright. The token resistance offered up by its feeble mind immediately found itself quelled, torn apart and shredded so completely that it never had a chance of breaking free. By the the time the thought even occurred it was already too late. Far too late. Naruto and wraith took hold of its mind utterly, dominating it, mind, body, and soul. They dug their claws in deep an' took hold of his mind, and then the pain ended.

His eyes burned blue and he stood, slowly.

"Who do you serve?" Naruto snapped.

"Dark Lord, Bright Master, its all the same to me, really. Long as I get to lop off some heads along the way. I'm your man, boss! Where do we start?" the sudden cheer _-no, it was fervor-_ in the creature's voice was possibly disturbing, sending Sakura's stomach roiling in disgust. What foul sorcery was this? Was this the same creature that had threatened her daughter with a fate worse than death? Just what he had done to him and where he might've gotten that kind of power...the implications disturbed her more than she cared to admit.

"Good." the blond ground out, heedless of her dismay. "Now, I have task for you. Gather your men. Bring them to me."

To her disbelief, the captain actually _saluted._

"Right, boss!"

He cut the Uruk free and sent him on his way much as a backwards glance.

"Ohhhhh...now we're getting somewhere."

Naruto's grin was decidedly savage as he watched his new slave walk away, Sakura thought. Too savage. It was the look of a beast, twisted and cruel. It wasn't the face of her friend, or teammate or even-now leader. It was cold. There was something hard and dark in those glittering blue eyes, as though all kindness had been stripped from him, leaving only...something else.

"Naruto...?" she dared venture.

Only then did he finally seem to notice her.

As if he hadn't even been aware of her until that very moment.

"Hmm? What?" he blinked, as though coming out of a dream. "Ah. There you are, Sakura." stooping, he reached down and gave her a perfunctory pat on the head. "Didn't even notice you. Here. Let me cut you loose and get that seal off you. It's gonna be alright.

"Sarada," she managed weakly as he broke her chains, "She needs...

"Right, right," her teammate chattered, helping her stand. "Gotta get that pretty little head of hers seen to. Just a moment."

"Wait, what are you-

 _"There!"_

Gently, ever-so-gently, he placed a hand on her neck. His palm pulsed blue and she heard something break; in the next instant all her strength came rushing back. All her power, but more importantly, her chakra. Frantic, she darted towards Sarada and set to work mending her injuries. Within minutes-and to her unassailable relief-her daughter's intermittent breath resumed a healthy pace, her pulse stabilizing. It took all of her training to reign herself in and maintain her composure. Safe. She was safe. Everything was going to be alright. They'd figure this out, find a way back from it all, and...wait. In her worry, she nearly missed it entirely.

Almost.

But not quite.

It was then that she glimpsed it.

She caught it in passing as Naruto issued orders to his "followers", saw it smoldering faintly on his finger. Had it been anyone else, she would've dismissed it as a mere bauble of sorts and put it from her mind. But Naruto didn't wear jewelry. He never had. Never wanted to. So why was he wearing a ring, and why did it look so...so...oh. No.

The Ring.

The very thing that had driven her husband mad, now worn by her dearest friend.

Oh.

Oh, dear.

It all made sense now.

"Naruto," now it was Sakura's turn to rise, to place a hand on his shoulder. "Where did you get that?"

"Get what?" the blond turned, distracted. "What're you talking about?"

"The Ring."

"I found it." he muttered. "Its helping me."

 _Like it helped Sasuke?_ an untrustworthy voice crooned.

"I...I don't think you should be wearing that. You need to remove it."

He looked at her as though she'd grown an extra head and asked him for a dance.

"You must be joking."

Her silence spoke volumes.

"Sakura, I am _using_ this Ring to protect my people!"

"Can't you help them without it?" she pleaded, but the stony defiance in his eyes dashed her hopes.

"We're going to make things better." he insisted, taking hold of her shoulders, pulling her close. "We'll drive these invaders out of our village, our lands and then all others! The Ring's helping me, but I need you to be with me on this too, Sakura. I can't do it alone."

Sakura couldn't bear to say the words to his face, so she nodded, waited until he'd walked away.

...I'm with you."

Only then did she dare give voice to her thoughts.

 _"But the Ring, its changing you..."_

 **A/N: WHAT A LOVELY DAY INDEED! Ah, sorry. Just couldn't help myself. What kind of chaos and bloodshed can Naruto get up to here? Ohhhh, quite a bit. Don't believe me? BEHOLD THE PREVIEW. THAR BE ONE THIS TIME!**

 **Hope this one makes you think!**

 _ **(Preview)**_

 _With a roar, Naruto drew his sword and raised it high._

 _Behind him, his army echoed the cry._

 ** _"FORWARD!"_**

* * *

 _"Look, I'm here for you. Ya know that, right?"  
_

 _"Noted." he didn't look up from the papers strewn across the table, or the plans he'd etched into them. "Now, you're dismissed."_

 _Still, she lingered._

 _"Uh...kid?"_

 _"What is it now, Anko?" Naruto growled. "I'm busy."_

 _"I can see that, but..._

 _It was times like these that she secretly thanked kami she hadn't let herself go. Not slacked off on her training. That she'd not gone soft like the others. If she had, she would've gotten old and fat and then where would she be? Dead in the siege, like so many others. Like Iruka. Her heart gave a painful wrench at the thought-not just for herself, but what the man's death must've done to_ _wasn't taking it well-which was to seen of course, expected even, but this? She worried most about what he was becoming. That damned ring was only going to make things worse in the long run, but how to make him see? She knew he was suffering; hell, knew it better than most, if only because she'd suffered through similar circumstances._

 _But this was more than that._

 _She'd always favored him; there had been an unspoken attraction there, long before he became Hokage, that neither gave voice to. Never acted upon. The time had never been right. Yet now...why now? A thorn of shame pricked her and held her back. Was that what drove her to speak now? Selfishness? The desire to swoop in and claim him for herself? What manner of vulture was she, to do such a thing, knowing how Sakura felt? Sakura, who clung to Naruto now for support, after Sasuke her pillar, her rock, her everything, had betrayed her. Did she even truly care?_

 _More importantly, did **she?**_

 _"Stop dancing around the subject and tell me." his voice dragged her out of her reverie. "You've never held back before."_

 _'Eh,' she shrugged, 'Fuck it.'_

 _If everyone else was too afraid to say it, she would._

 _"I'll be blunt, here. I think...you might have a few screws loose."_

 _"Screws loose? Who? Me?!" he recoiled visibly from her touch, venom burning in his eyes and voice. "No! Not at all! I only had my family SLAUGHTERED, lost the village, got screwed over by my best friend, found myself possessed by a wraith, and can't seem to bloody die! Its not like its anything SERIOUS!"_

 _"I just meant-_

 _Blue eyes rounded on her, blazing a ghastly color she didn't know._

 _"Spare me your platitudes! You know nothing of my-_

 _SLAP._

 _"What the hell?!"_

 _"Snap out of it, damnit! This isn't you!"_

 _ **AND THE INSANITY CONTINUES!** **So, in the Immortal Words of Atlas, Review...**_

 **...Would You Kindly?**

 **R &R~! =D**


End file.
